theory

From Portable TV, I Don’t Understand, July 18, 2021: William Shatner interviews Saskia Charity of Fermilab on what is a muon and the meaning of the Muon g-2 experiment result.

From Physics Today, June 1, 2021: How the Muon g-2 results from Brookhaven and Fermilab have challenged the standard model. Fermilab’s Chris Polly talks about the Brookhaven experiment, moving the magnetic ring and what the Fermilab results mean to the standard model and particle physics.

From the Observador (Portugal), April 18, 2021: The Muon g-2 experiment confirmed a small discrepancy previously detected between the measured values and those calculated by the most advanced theory we have with the probability that this measure is a statistical error is 1 in 100,000.

From Forbes, April 17, 2021: Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln explores the Muon g-2 result announcement about a new measurement that disagrees in a very significant way with predictions from the Standard Model.

Researchers have proposed a novel method for finding dark matter, the cosmos’s mystery material that has eluded detection for decades. The proposed experiment, in which a billion millimeter-sized pendulums would act as dark matter sensors, would be the first to hunt for dark matter solely through its gravitational interaction with visible matter.

From Inside HPC, Oct. 14, 2020: With the arrival of exascale computing in 2021, researchers expect to have the power to describe the underlying properties of matter and optimize and control the design of new materials and energy technologies at levels that otherwise would have been impossible. Fermilab scientist Andreas Kronfeld talks about how participation in DOE’s Exascale Computing Project can help solve complicated calculations in particle physics.

From Quanta Magazine, October 2020: This 17-minute podcast episode explores how three physicists stumbled across an unexpected relationship between some of the most ubiquitous objects in math. Hear Fermilab scientist Stephen Parke, DUNE collaborator Deborah Harris of York University, and Fields medalist Terence Tao discuss neutrinos, linear algebra, and the international, Fermilab-hosted Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment.

Extremely massive fundamental particles could exist, but they would seriously mess with our understanding of quantum mechanics.

From Brookhaven National Laboratory, Sept. 17, 2020: Brookhaven theorists publish an improved prediction for the tiny difference in kaon decays observed by experiments. Understanding these decays and comparing the prediction with more recent state-of-the-art experimental measurements made at Fermilab and CERN gives scientists a way to test for tiny differences between matter and antimatter.

Even world-famous theorist Juan Maldacena wasn’t sure at first whether he should pursue a Ph.D. in physics.